Marijuana Shop Cannot Bank on Identity That Parodies Citibank

As cannabis consumption reaches the mainstream, many formerly tongue-in-cheek subcultural terms and brands that flew under the radar on the black market are now very much on the legal radar of corporate America. Like Gorilla Glue and other companies before it, Citibank is the latest corporate entity to take issue with a cannabis company taking lighthearted liberties with its brand identity.
“Unless you are as high as a kite, you know that Citi isn’t affiliated with [Citidank] in any way.” – Citigroup SpokespersonCitigroup, the bank’s parent company, established a line of communication with a Cathedral City, California, weed shop named Citidank — and it wasn’t to place an order.
“Unless you are as high as a kite, you know that Citi isn’t affiliated with this business in any way and we have requested that they stop using Citi’s name and logo,” explained Citigroup spokesperson Danielle Romero-Apsilos.
The banking conglomerate may have been tipped off about the brand appropriation by the New York Post, which raised questions after the shop posted a full-page ad in the Coachella Valley Weekly offering to service “all your danking needs.”
If comparing them based solely on customer service, then the dispensary has far more convenient hours, open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

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As cannabis consumption reaches the mainstream, many formerly tongue-in-cheek subcultural terms and brands that flew under the radar on the black market are now very much on the legal radar of corporate America.

Like Gorilla Glue and other companies before it, Citibank is the latest corporate entity to take issue with a cannabis company taking lighthearted liberties with its brand identity.

“Unless you are as high as a kite, you know that Citi isn’t affiliated with [Citidank] in any way.” – Citigroup Spokesperson

Citigroup, the bank’s parent company, established a line of communication with a Cathedral City, California, weed shop named Citidank — and it wasn’t to place an order.

“Unless you are as high as a kite, you know that Citi isn’t affiliated with this business in any way and we have requested that they stop using Citi’s name and logo,” explained Citigroup spokesperson Danielle Romero-Apsilos.